LatinX Studies: LatinX Poets

75 Poems by the Author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies The works of this award-winning poet and novelist are rich with the language and influences of two cultures: those of the Dominican Republic of her childhood and the America of her youth and adulthood. They have shaped her writing just as they have shaped her life. In these seventy-five autobiographical poems, Alvarez's clear voice sings out in every line. Here, in the middle of her life, she looks back as a way of understanding and celebrating the woman she has become.

A definitive anthology of the best United States Latino and Latina poets from diverse origins in the Latin world: Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Puerto Rico: Julia Alvarez, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Juan Felipe Herrera, Pat Mora, Alberto Alvaro Ríos, Luis J. Rodrguez, and Tino Villeanueva, as well as emerging writers, including Sandra M. Castillo, Adrian Castro, Silvia Curbelo, Diana Rivera, and Gina Valdez.

As we approach the new century, Latino poetry is in the midst of its most vital and productive period. Poetry by Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans has changed the course of contemporary American writing forever.nbsp;nbsp;And it has done this by emphasizing poetry as the sound of everyday life--showing readers and other writers that the most effective manner of preserving the traditions of a culture comes from the colorful language of daily experience. Touching the Fire recognizes the excitement of this movement by focusing on a few of its major poets, presenting a substantial portion of each poet's work.nbsp;nbsp;Some of these poets--Martin Espada, Lorna Dee Cervantes, and Victor Hernandez Vruz, for example--have been writing and publishing a long time.nbsp;nbsp;Some are only starting their careers.nbsp;nbsp;But they were all chosen because they best represent the strongest elements of modern Latino poetry--a confidence of language in its many forms, a gift for shattering emotional honesty, and an ear for the rhythms of a vibrant culture. Featuring the poetry of: Sandra M. Castillo Lorna Dee Cervantes Judith Ortiz Cofer Victor Hernandez Cruz Silvia Curbelo Juan Delgado Martin Espada Diana Garcia Richard Garcia Ray Gonzalez Maurice Kilwein Guevara Juan Felipe Herrera Dionisio D. Martinez Valerie Martinez Gloria Vando

Little attention has been paid to the Latino movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the literature of social movements. This volume is the first significant look at the organizations of the Puerto Rican movement, which emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as a response to U.S. colonialism on the island and to the poverty and discrimination faced by most Puerto Ricans on the mainland. To combat these two problems, and drawing n a tradition of patriotism and social responsibility, a number of organizations grew up, including the Young Lords Party (YLP), which later evolved into the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization; the Pro Independence Movement (MPI), which evolved into the U.S> branch of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party; El Comite; the Puerto Rican Student Union (PRSU); the Movement for National Liberation (MLN); and the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN). THe Puerto Rican Movement looks at all these groups as specific organizations of real people in such places as Boston, Chicago, Hartford, New York, and Philadelphia. The contributors, almost all of whom were involved with the organizations they describe, provide detailed descriptions and historical analyses of the Puerto Rican Left. Interviews with such key figures as Elizam Escobar, Piri Thomas, and Luis Fuentes, as well as accounts by people active in the gay/lesbian, African American, and white Left movements add a vivid picture of why and how people became radicalized and how their ideals intersected with their group's own dynamics. These critical assessments highlight each organization's accomplishments and failures and illuminate how different sets of people, in different circumstances, respond to social problems -- in this case, the "national question" and the issues of social justice and movement politics.